First new thing I spotted was a whole new tutorial that wasn't there before - 'The Mines of Gloomingdark'. I can't quite work out if it was there before Everquest II and it's 'Isle of Refuge' tutorial levels, but it's a good idea none the less. One of the things that struck me, all those years ago, was just how complicated everything was. It's hard to see, now I'm a battle-scarred veteran, but clearly a tutorial is a necessary thing for something that complex if you want genuinely new players; a distinct, closed off environment where you can fumble about with 'Forward', 'Backward' and so on without some Level 486 Deifier spouting smacktalk and acronymic gibberish at you and training and killstealing every munchkin in the zone over the top of you.

Within minutes, I'd gotten the swing of things again, and maybe half an hour of spider-whacking later, I'd got a decent set of armour, usable weapon, a fair bit of cash and a few levels under my belt, and was ready to face the Outside World...the game proper. Easy! But then that's the point - these levels are The Hook.

I've always found the first ten levels or so to be the most engaging, rewarding, interesting and full of wonder; game after game, it's always the 'Newbie' levels that have been the best bit, and usually after that, the notorious 'Grind' sets in and things become more commonplace and business-like. I think it's why Alts are so common; and why some people can't seem to settle down and get on with it. (AFK Gamer: Annoying Alts)

New particle effects, new crafting interface, new map features, even pure Warriors gaining a set of 'Stamina' based pseudo-magical abilites to keep up with the casters...it largely seems that they're desparately trying to retro-fit Everquest with features from the sequel as they go. SOE have always had a tradition of shipping some kind of major gameplay upgrade in with the usual 'extra zones, extra monster, extra loot' package you expect from an expansion, and nine of these in, the game bears little superficial resemblance to the fresh faced new-comer of six years ago.

But underneath, I can tell that the basic fundamental gameplay is no different. Hit monster, Rest, Hit Monster, Rest, Level, Reapeat Ad Infinitum. Still, I wasn't really expecting that to have changed, and for better or for worse, that is MMORPG. No, mostly I'm here for the nostalgic tourism of it all...

Cont tomorrow - Home Cities...